Well that was. . .fun

In case you didn't hear, we had a little snowstorm up here in the Puget Sound area. After a brief snowfall on Sunday, and some light snowy conditions early in the week, we woke up Wednesday morning to a foot of snow covering everything.

It was beautiful. It was wonderful. It was a nice day to take the kids sledding at the local elementary school, followed by hot chocolate at a friend's house.

Thursday's when it all got interesting. The snow was followed by freezing rain. Everything was covered by 1/2 an inch of ice. The Jeep looked like it was encased in crystal. Plants and trees glistened as if dipped in glass. It was breathtaking.

It was also dangerous. All that extra weight was more than many trees could bear. Water seeped into trees, and, freezing, expanded outward. Soon branches large and small, and, in many cases, whole trees were crashing to the ground. The road below our house was raining large branches and heavy chunks of ice. We wandered down to the marina and saw many trees broken over. Our driveway was blocked by a 16-inch oak branch. There was a boat broken loose at the marina. Everything was a mess.

Then the power went out. We were out about 24 hours, which isn't so bad, considering many are still in the dark. The woodstove kept us warm, and candles offered light for playing and reading. Inside, it was cozy.

But I wandered out Thursday night and stood in the middle of our driveway. It sounded like a war zone, between the constant popping of trees snapping off and the flash/bang of transformers blowing up over by the highway. For the first time in 6 years I actually felt a little worried about living in the woods. The night was restless, as sleep was punctuated by the sound of falling trees, and chainsaws clearing the road below.

Friday we got the Jeep out and went for a drive, checking on people and shooting some video footage. Trees were down everywhere. Power and phone lines dangled down from poles onto the ground. Ice chunks continued to rain down from on high. More branches lay across our driveway.

And yet, everywhere we went people seemed in a good mood. There was laughter and joy in the sharing of survival stories. We had lunch at the local Mexican restaurant, and saw a dozen or so friends there. Across the street at the market cars were slipping and sliding through the parking lot, but everybody was helping each other out. While people in more civilized areas seemed to be angry and offended at the weather (based on the tone of callers to local radio programs), those out here on the KP just got down to making it work.

And now it's melting, and life is returning to normal, and the kids are getting restless, and 'mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again." I think we can even get the Kia out of the driveway. And last night I told the girls "now when you're old you can say 'I remember back to the great storm of '12, when school was closed for a week and all the trees fell down and we had to use a Jeep to get out and we all camped in the living room to stay warm by the fire.'"

Good times.

I'm Dreaming of a White. . .Thanksgiving?

Snow started falling last night, and continued on into the morning. Not enough that school was delayed, but enough to create a winter wonderland out here in the woods.

So off the kids went to school, and off I went with my mother-in-law to do some shopping.

That's when it really started to come down. I stopped in the Harbor, looking for a magazine, and almost couldn't make it back up the hill to the freeway. Picked up mom-in-law at Fred Meyer and left for Target. Quickly it became obvious that going straight home would be the better choice. Cars littered both sides of the freeway. I could feel our tires slipping underneath us. The other side of the freeway was completely blocked by 2 big rigs unable to climb the hill out of Purdy.

We made it home, but not without some drama going up our driveway. Which proved impossible, so we went around and tried going down the other way. Creating even more drama as we slipped and slided every closer to the ditch.

And now the snow continues to fall, the temperature continues to drop, apple cider is warming in the crock pot, a fire crackles in the wood stove, supplies are laid in should the winds knock out the power tonight, the kids are outside sledding, Christmas music is playing, and Karina's in the air toward the U.S.

I believe I have much for which to be thankful.

A brief word for the scoffers

It is common for non-northwesterners to scoff at us Puget Sound dwellers and the way we respond to snow. For much of the country (think Chicago, New York, Denver), life goes on after the snow; whereas here in Seattle (as it is in Portland), the slightest dusting of snow paralyzes the cities. Schools close, the government shuts down, buses stop running. Cars are abandoned on the freeways and side streets, trash isn't picked up, everyone stays home or wishes they had.

"Ha!" say those who live elsewhere. "A bunch of ninnies who can't handle a little snow!"

If you find yourself in that crowd, let me explain a couple things.

1. Hills. Steep hills. Seattle has a lot of them. And a lot of roads that go up and down them. Chicago, Denver, Calgary. . .all those snowy cities are flat. But Seattle has virtually no flat ground. If you're not going up, then you're going down. Flat snow compacts under your tires while you go merrily on your way. But on hills, it becomes like little ball bearings under your tires, causing you to lose control and slam into things. That's not bad driving, that's gravity.

2. Temperature. It never really gets that cold in Seattle. It always hovers around the freezing point. Which means things begin to melt, then freeze again. During the day all that snow warms up and turns to slush, and then at night it freezes as a solid sheen of ice. It's not the snow that's a problem, it's the ice underneath. And if you take all this ice and put it on the hills mentioned in #1, it creates real problems. You hit ice, you lose all hope of control. Again, that's not bad driving, that's gravity.

3. It's not a big enough problem to make it an issue. If you live in a place where it snows 6 months out of the year, you have chains or snow tires or studs. If you live in Seattle, where it snows one or two days a year (if you're lucky) you're just not going to put that much time and money into buying chains and snow tires and studs.

4. Californians. They're the ones who move up here and then have no clue how to drive in the snow. Seriously. Or the midwesterners who assume that they can handle snow because they used to drive in Nebraska in the snow, but who don't take into consideration #1 and 2.

So quit your scoffing. It's probably all so much jealousy, anyway, since you all wish you could live here.